The CIIE Offers a Valuable Channel for High-Quality African Products to Reach Chinese Consumers

A visitor poses for photos with an exhibitor at the South Africa Pavilion during the seventh CIIE in east China’s Shanghai on 7 November. (Photo: Xinhua)

Madagascar’s lamb, Ethiopia’s coffee, South Sudan’s shea butter … the exhibits at the Food and Agricultural Products zone of the seventh China International Import Expo (CIIE) attracted a lot of attention. 

Held annually in Shanghai, the CIIE is regarded as an important platform for Africa to enter the vast Chinese market. African participation at this year’s expo is especially strong after China decided to offer all least developed countries with diplomatic relations with China, including 33 countries in Africa, zero-tariff treatment for 100 percent of tariff lines. The announcement was made at the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held in Beijing in September.  

A large number of officials, businesspeople and entrepreneurs from African countries such as Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Nigeria and others attended the expo, bringing a variety of goods including agricultural products, minerals, clothing and handicrafts, the expo organisers said. 

Benin, Burundi, Madagascar, Namibia and Lesotho were first-time participants in the country exhibition segment, showing Africa’s interest in making full use of the opportunities in the Chinese market.

An exhibitor shows a painting at the Tanzania Pavilion during the seventh CIIE in east China’s Shanghai on 7 November. (Photo: Xinhua)

An open market 

At the FOCAC Beijing Summit, China also announced it would unilaterally expand its market and pledged to support the entry of African products into the Chinese market through platforms like the CIIE. As a result, the exclusive area for African products in this year’s CIIE Food and Agricultural Products exhibition area was expanded, with a total of 26 booths from least developed countries, compared to 20 in 2023. 

Benin’s pineapples at last year’s CIIE won hearts and many orders, quickly making their way into the Chinese market. Benin’s Ambassador to China Simon Pierre Adovelande revealed that Benin’s pineapple exports to China have now hit about 400,000 tonnes per year. Having tasted success, this year, Benin set up a national pavilion at the CIIE for the first time, showcasing its special pineapples, along with cashews, shea butter and honey. 

The CIIE is also a springboard for Zambia’s specialty product honey, to expand its market share and reach consumers across China and beyond. From a modest start of less than 1 tonne in 2018, honey exports from Zambia have soared to nearly 20 tonnes per year, thanks to the opportunities presented by the CIIE, said Zhang Tongyang, general manager of Mpundu Wild Honey Ltd. based in Kabwe Town in central Zambia. 

“A great many small businesses from Africa are also keen to utilise the CIIE to access the Chinese market, but it is difficult for them to attend on their own. That’s why we’ve decided to lend our support, bringing their products to the expo to be showcased together,” Zhang said.  

Joseph Nkandu, a coffee farmer from Uganda who also serves as executive director of the National Union of Coffee Agribusinesses and Farm Enterprises of Uganda, said that the Chinese market is full of potential, and that although they will return home, they have developed a network of Chinese partners to continue distributing and selling their products throughout China. 

“We are currently penetrating the Chinese market, which is very interesting. The coffee market is expanding, driven by young consumers,” said Nkandu. 

Nkandu noted that the cooperation between the Chinese government and those of African countries, and in particular his country Uganda, has played a key role in boosting trade, as it has granted tariff waivers. This has allowed companies to sell any type of coffee in the Chinese market without having to pay any tariff.

An exhibitor arranges wood carvings at the Tanzania Pavilion during the seventh CIIE in east China’s Shanghai on 7 November. (Photo: Xinhua)

Benefitting local people 

Thanks to favourable geographical conditions, many least developed countries in Africa produce high-quality agricultural products. Samuel Abikunda, commercial counsellor with the Rwandan Embassy in Beijing, told ChinAfrica that since the first CIIE held in 2018, China-Africa agricultural goods trade has consistently grown, which, on one hand, has enriched the choices for Chinese consumers, and on the other, has helped African agricultural products to gain market share, thus improving incomes and living standards of people in Africa and generating employment opportunities. It’s truly a win-win situation, he added. 

Rwanda has actively participated in the CIIE for seven consecutive years. Walking into the Rwanda Pavilion, one could see a dazzling array of red peppers, fragrant coffee, sweet honey, and other delicacies, which caught the eye of many a visitor.  

Rwanda’s specialty coffee beans entered the Chinese market through the CIIE. Yang He, head of Gorilla’s Coffee in China, told ChinAfrica that the company has achieved annual sales of over 1 million tonnes in China. In 2023, China’s imports from Rwanda increased by 86.2 percent year on year. James Kimonyo, Rwanda’s ambassador to China, said that the expo and the online sales platform have eliminated the middlemen between Rwandan farmers and Chinese consumers. The local coffee bean growers can now earn an extra $4 for each bag of coffee sold. 

Guinea-Bissau is one of the world’s largest producers of cashew nuts. More than 80 percent of its workforce is employed in the cashew nut industry. Approximately 80 percent of Guinea-Bissau’s population relies on cashew production for their livelihood.  

In recent years, Guinea-Bissau has worked to strengthen its ties with China, and the CIIE has become a key platform for the nation to promote its products. A cashew company from the country received a booth for free in 2022. Since then, their cashews have become a big hit in the Chinese market. Antonio Serifo Embalo, Guinea-Bissau’s ambassador to China, noted that events like the CIIE have provided valuable opportunities for Guinea-Bissau to showcase its agricultural products, particularly cashews, and increase local farmers’ income. 

Wang Zhimin, a research fellow from the Academy of China Open Economy Studies at the University of International Business and Economics, said that the tariff exemptions will greatly enhance the competitiveness of these African countries’ export products, which will enable these countries to better integrate into the global supply chain, promote sustainable economic development, and improve the income and living standards of local farmers.

Artists stage a performance at the Rwanda Pavilion during the seventh CIIE in east China’s Shanghai on 7 November. (Photo: Xinhua)

Modernising agriculture 

It is worth noting that while China is actively promoting the exports of African agricultural products to its market, it has always been committed to nurturing local expertise for the development of African agriculture.  

Over the past decade, China has established 24 agricultural technology demonstration centres in Africa and introduced more than 300 advanced agricultural technologies, which has raised crop yields by an average of 30 to 60 percent and benefitted over 1 million farmers across the continent. China has shared its expertise in Juncao grass cultivation technology and hybrid rice cultivation with African countries, benefitting millions of farmers.  

Juncao technology is already being used in more than 40 African countries. China’s hybrid rice is now being grown in more than 20 African countries, pushing up rice production from an average of 2 tonnes per hectare to 7.5 tonnes. 

Song Wei, professor at the School of International Relations and Diplomacy at Beijing Foreign Studies University, told ChinAfrica that the growth of China-Africa agricultural trade reflects the high degree of complementarity between the two sides in this field. China-Africa cooperation in agriculture will not only help the continent to grow agricultural product exports, but also achieve food self-sufficiency.

An exhibitor shows honey at the Zambia Pavilion during the seventh CIIE in east China’s Shanghai on 7 November. (Photo: Xinhua)

Policy support 

China has long attached importance to importing more high-quality specialty agricultural products from Africa. It has rolled out various measures to increase the imports of high-quality agricultural products from Africa. In recent years, platforms such as the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo, the CIIE, and the Good African Goods Online Shopping Festival have further broadened the channels for African agricultural products to enter the Chinese market. 

During the eighth ministerial conference of FOCAC in Senegal in 2021, China announced that it would open “green lanes” for African agricultural exports to China, speed up the inspection and quarantine procedures, and further increase the scope of products enjoying zero-tariff treatment for the least developed countries having diplomatic relations with China. 

By the end of August this year, China has signed 22 protocols with 14 African countries, allowing their agricultural products access to the Chinese market. 

Thanks to these efforts, China’s imports of African agricultural products increased by 7.2 percent to 25.35 billion yuan ($3.51 billion) in the first seven months of 2024, a rate higher than the overall growth rate of China’s agricultural product imports. The import volume of African specialty agricultural products such as sesame, flue-cured tobacco and macadamia nuts increased by 38.8 percent, 32.7 percent and 106.2 percent respectively, accounting for more than 40 percent of China’s import volume of similar products. 

China signed cooperation agreements with many African countries on the import of agricultural products. These included agreements with Zimbabwe on fresh avocadoes, Zambia on soybeans, Mozambique on pigeon peas, macadamia nuts and cashew nuts, Namibia on sheep and goat meat, and Rwanda on bee honey. 

As a result, more African agricultural products are expected to find place on the shelves of Chinese shopping malls and homes.

Visitors learn about African products at the Food and Agricultural Products Exhibition Area during the seventh CIIE in east China’s Shanghai on 7 November. (Photo: Xinhua)

African Times has published this article in partnership with ChinAfrica Magazine.

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